


Dreams are sweet (until they're not)

by coolgirl3890



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Flowers, Friendship, Homeworld Gems - Freeform, Homeworld Hierarchy (Steven Universe), Homeworld is Horrible, Hurt/Comfort, Language of Flowers, Pearl Solidarity (Steven Universe), Zine: Hundreds of Pearls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolgirl3890/pseuds/coolgirl3890
Summary: Good Pearls are not suppose to have desires. But that doesn't mean Magenta and Silver don't have a few of their ownWritten for the Hundreds of Pearls zine
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16
Collections: Hundreds of Pearls Zine





	Dreams are sweet (until they're not)

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to @gimmeshellder for being the beta for this story and @lestrangelady for letting me use her OC Pearls as my muses! Link to her Tumblr blog will be down below!
> 
> Enjoy!

To be a pearl was to be a work of art.

A functional work of art, of course, but a work of art nonetheless. 

Besides, could a sculpture come to life and dance for its artist? Could a song take a form as beautiful as the notes that it was made from? Even with a dance performance, could the dancers walk down to the audience and promise their eternal servitude to them? No; only a Pearl could be all, wrapped up into one, aesthetically pleasing hardlight body. 

For example, Silver Pearl knew who she was. She is beautiful, simple but elegant, with her only embellishment a veil of sparkly, gauzy material to cover (but not hide!) her face. Her long hair only served to frame her expertly-crafted head. Gems loved to see how it bounced in time with her veil as she pirouetted across the room.

A perfect companion for her regal, glimmering Goshenite. Her Goshenite, who held the respect of the radiant, powerful White Diamond-- of almost every gem she dare say! To be her pearl was a privilege few knew, save for the Diamonds' pearls. She would do anything for her Goshenite. Even the more… unusual tasks.

Silver knew from her not-so-still stance and wandering eyes taking in the glory of Goshenite's home that she was fresh from the oyster. The pearl before her was a splash of color against the otherwise crystal-white estate of Goshenite. Various shades of pink, she had a similar fashion design to Silver. Her outfit was meant to compliment her owner's and not overpower it. A dark pink top and gloves with laced edges, pant legs made of gauze, and short but poofy hair. Lovely but simple, just like any good Pearl. 

"You are to show her proper conduct for a Pearl." Her Goshenite explained to her that day. "You will be teaching her until I can find her a new owner. Her original owner was to be Pink Diamond."

She should have known from the gem placement to the color scheme that she was, at the very least, meant for someone in Pink Diamond's court. Still, that did not stop a twang of jealousy going through her when she heard that she was made for Pink Diamond herself!

Silver swallowed her inappropriate emotion down and focused instead on the task given to her. With a deep bow, she replied, "Yes, my Goshenite."

Goshenite gave her a short nod, an indication of her satisfaction. Silver had been her loyal servant for as long as she could remember. She knew she would not fail her.

"Good, I will be in my study. Try not to disturb me." Was the last order she gave before walking away.

As soon as the door to the room closed, the pink-hued pearl burst to life. "It's so nice to meet you!" Said the pearl in a voice a bit too shrill for Silver's liking. That was something they would have to work on. "I'm Magenta! But you can call me Maggie!"

Yeah, she was never going to do that. 

Silver cleared her throat and spoke in a voice worthy of a pearl. "You may call me Silver. As you might have already guessed, my Goshenite is a very important gem which is why she was entrusted with you. And by her orders, I will be showing you how a pearl behaves for her owner. Do you understand?"

Magenta nodded in a way that did not inspire confidence in her. Oh well, Silver could handle it. She did not consider herself to be a mentor, despite being an excellent example for any pearl to follow. But for her Goshenite, she would do anything. 

~ ~ ~ 

Several rotations passed. Silver studied Magenta with the same scrutiny as a Peridot would a patch of soil for gem harvesting. Though only a short amount of time had passed, Silver already came to her conclusion. 

So far? Magenta was perfectly average. Average at dancing, average at singing, and average at following orders based on the very few Goshenite gave to her. 

To think that she was going to serve a Diamond, Silver said in the privacy of her head. 

Most infuriating of all, Magenta had all the makings of a good Pearl, but her bubbliness and naivete was what prevented her from being a Diamond's pearl. Thank the stars, this never got in the way of her duties. But it left Silver to wonder if the reason why Magenta was just average was because being the best possible pearl she could be was not top priority in her mind. 

The thought of it was enough to make her shudder. 

As of now, Silver was taking Magenta on a tour of Goshenite's estate. With it being as vast as it was, the younger pearl had only seen a fraction of it. On the first day, Silver had shown her the most important rooms. The ballroom where Goshenite would throw parties and have her entertain guests. The study where she was expected to keep everything in tip-top shape. And of course, the many hallways in which they would be expected to travel through in a discrete, nondisruptive manner. But only now did Silver take Magenta to the less-traveled portions of it.

"Hey Silver, what's that?" Magenta asked during their walk, pointing at a small but wide building in the distance.

"That," Silver began, waving her hand vaguely in the building's direction. "Is Goshenite's greenhouse. My Goshenite has many flowers and plants from other worlds and that is where she keeps them all." 

Any gem that wished to curry favor from Goshenite knew the best way to do this was to gift her forgein flora from colonies and uncharted worlds alike. The more exotic, the better. Eventually, Goshenite's collection grew to the point that she ordered a Bismuth to make her a greenhouse to keep all of them together in one place.

An unnecessary gasp escaped from Magenta's mouth. "Can we go in?"

"Absolutely not," was Silver's curt reply. "The greenhouse is not somewhere you can just wander into as you please."

“Oh please Si!” Magenta begged, using that infuriating nickname that she had taken a liking to calling her lately. Magenta clutched Silver’s upper arm, eyes wide in excitement. “You are giving me a tour of Goshenite’s estate! And the greenhouse is a part of her place, isn’t it?”

Silver sighed. She had hoped Magenta wouldn’t use that line of reasoning with her. “Very well. But touch nothing! My Goshenite will be very cross if she sees even a single petal out of place!” 

Magenta squealed in excitement, stopping only when Silver reminded her that squealing was unbecoming of a Pearl. A few dainty strides into the greenhouse’s direction, a code pressed into the panel by its door, and the two pearls were inside 

While the rest of Goshenite's estate was white-washed to the extreme, the greenhouse was the one exception. In here, the entire color spectrum was represented in a room that seemed to go on for miles. Silver herself could count the number of times she ventured into the greenhouse, with and without Goshenite, on one hand. The greenhouse was a special place, Goshenite told her long ago. Her own little sanctuary where she preferred to be alone. Silver understood. 

There were places a Pearl could never follow her owner.

Magenta pounced over to one flower that stood towards the back. Its petals were pink, maybe a few shades lighter than Magenta herself, and were bound closely together.

“This must be a rose!” Magenta said with the utmost confidence. “Incredible! I can’t believe Goshenite would have an Earth flower!”

“Err, yes,” Silver responded, slightly embarrassed at the sight of it. She remembered in the early days of Pink Diamond’s colonization of Earth, roses were a common gift for the upper gems to receive whether or not they were in Pink Diamond’s court. Of course, her Goshenite received one as well. Yet now, with the infamous traitor Rose Quartz sullying the flower’s name, it felt nearly treasonous to have it in one’s possession. 

It looked like Magenta was thinking the same thing about the flower, for her excitement was quick to disappear and be replaced with a somber look. With a sigh, she tore her gaze away from the rose and directed it elsewhere, anywhere but on the flower named after the shatterer of her Diamond. 

“You know, I was told Earth would be like this.” She swept her arm across, gesturing to the room as a whole. “It would be full of life, of flora and fauna never seen before. Perfect for Pink Diamond… she loved collecting lifeforms.”

In the gentle lighting of the room, surrounded by every color known to gemkind, Magenta looked like she belonged here. A flower unto herself, bright, beautiful, and full of new life. It was Silver who stood out here, her stark, white color sterile and dull amongst the organic life. 

Strange, Silver would never have described herself as dull before.

“Because I was going to be Pink Diamond’s gift for getting her new colony, I was taught everything known about Earth." Magenta continued. “I was so excited to see it all in person. I was going to let Pink Diamond know about every plant that lived on her colony.” A pause. “But now that will never happen.”

Magenta walked over to an array of other potted flowers, these short and round and their petals equally so. Later, Magenta told her that they were zinnias, another Earth flower. “Sometimes, I dream about going to Earth and seeing those fields for myself.”

She looked up again, her eyes misty with longing. “What about you? Do you have a dream, Si?”

As emotional as the past minute was, Silver couldn’t help but scoff. “Me? Of course I don’t! A good pearl never has any desires unless they are her owner’s desires!” 

Magenta had the nerve to roll her eyes. “Come on, you can’t be perfect all the time! You’re really telling me you never thought of anything outside of looking pretty and what song to sing next for Goshenite?” 

"Of course I have other thoughts than that!" Silver snapped, surprising even herself with the outburst. "It's just that they're not as important as my Goshenite's!" 

"I'm not saying they are~" Magenta sang tauntingly. "But I just really want to know what goes on inside of your head, Si~"

Silver huffed, then relented. "Well I know this would never happen, but I always had this one scenario in mind. Goshenite would be summoned by White Diamond and for once, she would bring me along. They would talk for hours, leaving me plenty of time to take in the honor of being in a Diamond's presence. Then, off-handedly, Goshenite would mention how she was thinking of getting a new Pearl."

She omitted the part where a spike of fear would run through Silver. Had she not been a good Pearl? What had she done wrong? Were her dances no longer pleasing? Was her voice becoming irritating? Or maybe Goshenite just wanted something new to look at, something that didn't blend in with the walls and floors. 

"But then White Diamond would stop. She would look down at me, finally noticing me--" Silver shivered at the thought of those big, diamond-shaped eyes looking at something as lowly as her, beholding her! "And she would say--"

Silver adjusted her posture as she had seen White Diamond's in the past. A Pearl trying to copy a Diamond! What a laugh! "Why would you want to get rid of this one? She looks perfect to me."

And in White Diamond's eyes, perhaps she would look perfect. Her gem was in the same area as White's. She lacked any black coloration like what White Diamond had on her star-covered cape, but that wasn't an issue, not in Silver's fantasy. 

"Goshenite would be shocked, but she would regain her composure quickly and say 'You are too kind, My Diamond. If it pleases Her Radiance, I humbly offer my Pearl to you to do with as you please."

Silver sighed dreamily. "And then White Diamond would say, 'Yes, that would please me. Greatly.' Then I would step forward and I would bow like this--"

Now thoroughly inside her fantasy world, Silver bowed deeply at the waist, hands perfectly formed in the diamond symbol she practiced many times and hoped for the chance to use someday.

"And I would say, 'My Diamond, I am at your service.'"

She knew these thoughts were improper. She was made specifically for her Goshenite, an already high-ranking gem. She knew if White Diamond was to ever replace her Pearl, only the newest and the best The Reef could offer would be on White Diamond's mind. But it was just a fantasy, right? There was no harm in sometimes dreaming inbetween tasks and performances of having the most powerful gem in history to look upon you and call you--

Silver's musings were interrupted by an unseemly snort. Her head shot up, the veil rustling violently with the action, and saw Magenta clutching her abdomen and hunched over as fits of laughter overtook her entire form.

"What's so funny?!" Silver demanded. The rational part of her mind knew she was acting out of turn. With her loud voice that was not at all pleasant to hear and a blue-tint blush creeping up her cheeks, she did not represent the finest of pearls at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry." Magenta said inbetween gasps. "I-It's just, when you were talking about your dream y-you got all starry-eyed a-and it was--" a giggle interrupted her. "It was so cute!"

Silver paused.

Cute?

Silver was by no means a modest Pearl. This was mostly due to the compliments she received over the centuries in Goshenite's service. She has been described as beautiful, elegant, a pleasure on the eyes but never cute. Why? Simple: Goshenite didn't do ‘cute.’ 

That blush grew on Silver, but it was fueled by a different type of emotion now. She shook her head as if to dislodge the unintentional compliment from it. "Well… flattery won't get you anywhere with me! Don't think such honeyed words would fly with Goshenite!"

"Sorry, sorry," was Magenta's defense. "I was just telling you the truth! You were very cute!"

Silver huffed. "Now don't you think you can just come here without Goshenite's permission!" Silver said as she stomped (stomped, what was this pearl doing to her?!) to the exit. Magenta got the gist and quickly joined Silver as they made their way outside. 

"Although…" Silver began, hoping that she would not come to regret what she was about to suggest. "Your knowledge of Earth flora could be of use to My Goshenite. I could perhaps convince her that your presence in the greenhouse would be of benefit to her." 

That regret seeped in the moment Silver heard Magenta give the highest pitch squeal she heard from her or any creature for that matter. It only deepened when her form was attacked by the young pearl's (surprisingly strong) embrace.

"You would do that for me? Oh thankyouthankyou Si! Goshenite's flowers will be the best Homeworld has ever seen!" 

"Yes, that's very-" Silver tried in vain to push Magenta off. "If you would," She let her voice raise high, "-we have other business to attend to today." 

Magenta mercifully let her go after that, blathering on about the kinds of flora Earth had to offer. This time, Silver did not stop her from speaking.

Silver was thankful that she was taking the lead. Otherwise, Magenta would have seen her smile.

**Author's Note:**

> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/lestrangelady


End file.
